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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor for changes to hazardous orders.

An average of 67 workers under 18 years of age die annually from occupational injuries, and an estimated 77,000 are treated in hospital emergency departments for nonfatal injuries. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), largely unchanged in decades, defines work activities prohibited for young workers through 28 Hazardous Orders (HOs) for nonagricultural and agricultural occupations. The U.S. Department of Labor, NIOSH and others have identified the need to assess the adequacy of existing HOs to protect working youth. NIOSH found justification for all of the existing HOs. Review of available data and scientific evidence found that work currently prohibited by HOs continues to pose risks for death, serious injury and disabling health conditions. NIOSH proposes several types of revisions to HOs: better definition of prohibited activities, incorporation of associated legislative provisions, and in some cases, removal of current exemptions. Additionally, NIOSH makes recommendations to expand several HOs to include similar work with comparable or greater risk. In a couple of cases, NIOSH concluded that revisions of existing HOs may be warranted, to allow use of currently prohibited equipment which appears to be associated with relatively minor injuries. Tables 1 and 2 summarize recommendations for existing HOs in nonagricultural and agricultural occupations, respectively.